Page 90 of Shot For Mercy

“A win is a win,” Gio agrees. “Come, take a look.”

He pulls out his phone and searches for his name on Instagram, just to show it to us. A guy with white-blond hair and sky-blue eyes stares back at the screen—half naked. I raise an eyebrow at Giovanni, and he just smirks. I wonder if that’s why Alessandro is about to blow.

“He has an Only Fans.” Gio waggles his eyebrows. “He doesn’t collaborate, though. Just has solo content.”

“Well, that’s another win, I’d say.” I smirk at Alex, who looks about thirty seconds away from slitting my throat. I laugh. “So your husband is a porn star, and a twink, and a ball of sunshine. Sounds fun.”

“Yeah, Alex.” Gio smirks, and the rest of my brothers chuckle. “What’s not to love?”

“We're supposed to be monogamous,” Alex says through gritted teeth.

“And you will be.” Gio rolls his eyes, and I can’t lie, this is pretty amusing.

“Why are you stalking my husband?” Alessandro growls, and we all raise our eyebrows. Our collective laughter is so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if Cole got out of bed for this. “Fuck you all.”

“So what else?” I ask with a sigh. “What’s the deal breaker?”

“He’s fucking crazy,” Alessandro says to me, eyes wide. “He wants us to solidify our engagement with a blood pact.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Kinky.”

“Said that’s how it’s done in Russia.” He sighs, running a hand down his face.

“He’s fucking with you,” Gio tells him, and I smirk.

“He called it a crimson pact.” Alessandro rolls his eyes.

“I think you should do it,” I tell Alessandro with a shrug. “Appease him. An act of good faith.”

“And what? Give in to his every demand?” Alessandro narrows his eyes to slits, and I nod. “You don’t do that for Cole.”

“You don’t know that.” I grin. “I do anything he wants.”

“Difference is you’re dick-whipped, and I have a clear head,” Alex says.

“Not for long, I bet.” Gio laughs, and I join in. “How much do you all want to bet Nikolay is going to seduce him?”

We go around placing our bets, and all the while Alessandro looks like he’s going to blow up. But he doesn’t. Instead, he grins.

“I’m going to enjoy proving you all wrong. I’mstraight.” he says calmly, as if that matters. It doesn’t. I’ve been right where he is now. “There will be no seducing. I hate him already.”

“Why?” I ask him.

“He’s the enemy,” Alex says with exasperation. “On principle.”

I roll my eyes. “Not anymore. Now, he’s an ally.”

Alex scowls at this and heads for the elevator. “I’m not doing this stupid crimson pact with him!”

“Oh, yes, you are,” I call after him.

He gets in the elevator, and I just grin.

He’s so doing it.

Alessandro fought against the crimson pact as much as he could, but in the end, Nikolay won. They exchanged cuts on the palm of their hands and mixed their blood together. It was all very old-school, just for Nikolay to smirk when it was all done and over with. I have a sneaking suspicion that it was all a big joke, that he’s somehow making fun of Alex, but I can’t help but think it’s hilarious. I should be defending my brother, but this is the man he’s marrying. He should probably get ready. It feels like there’s going to be a war between them, and I don’t know who’s going to come out the winner.

My brother is clearly a jealous man. He hasn’t outright said it, but he hasn’t had to. I think Nikolay will be using that against him, especially because Alex doesn’t know any self-control. He flips out and shows all his cards, and Nikolay seems to be very calculating and methodical. He’s a plotter, I can tell, and right now, he’s plotting how to make Alessandro’s life miserable. It makes me want to welcome him into the family even more. Someone needs to get my brother to loosen up before he pulls a muscle. He doesn’t understand the concept.

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